Financial news

• FCA’s plan for stock market reform is both depressing and pragmatic | Nils Pratley

  02-05-2023 23:30
  
  Number of companies listed on main market in London has fallen by 40% since 2008Does the UK stock market need the biggest shake-up since the 1980s of the rules that apply to listed companies? Well, it’s hard to deny that something has gone wrong – and was going wrong before the Japanese owner of Arm Holdings delivered the latest snub by opting to list the Cambridge-based chip-maker, the UK’s tech champion, in New York.The number of companies with a listing on the main market in
  
  Read more

• Clampdown on cold calls and mass texting technology announced in UK

  02-05-2023 23:30
  
  New fraud strategy responding to web- and phone-based scams will result in recruitment of 400 new ‘specialist investigators’Ministers have announced a clampdown on the use of cold calls to sell financial products and on technology which allows mass texting of numerous phones as part of a strategy to combat fraud, now the UK’s most common crime.The new fraud strategy, a response to the massive growth of web- and phone-based scams, will alsoresult in what was billed as 400 new sp
  
  Read more

• US states opposing student loan forgiveness made false claims, files reveal

  02-05-2023 22:18
  
  Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s plan falsely said they’d be financially impacted by the scheme, debt forgiveness group claimsNewly uncovered documents show that the Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have made false claims that they will “suffer injuries”, or rather, be financially impacted by the scheme, a debt forgiveness campaign group has claimed.The supreme court case that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s studen
  
  Read more

• Is the banking crisis coming to an end? As JP Morgan CEO notes, risks linger

  02-05-2023 18:36
  
  Jamie Dimon says this phase of bank collapses is over, but ‘other cracks in the system’ could still be revealedFresh from the rescue of First Republic, the latest US regional bank to go under, JP Morgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, has been talking down the threat of contagion.He claims the domino effect that started with Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and was quickly followed by Signature Bank, Credit Suisse, and now First Republic, is coming to an end. “There m
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Rent in Australian capital cities climbs record 11.7% in 12 months

  02-05-2023 17:00
  
  Increase equivalent to $3,200 a year for tenants, with relief ‘unlikely’ in the short term as demand continues to outstrip supplyGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastRenters in Australian capital cities have suffered the highest increase for a 12-month period since records began in 2007 as the nation’s housing crisis shows no sign of slowing down.The combined capitals’ rental rate increased 11.7% over the past year, far above the averag
  
  Read more

• Sunak and Starmer are obsessed with home ownership. Neither seems to want to fix the housing crisis | Kieran Yates

  02-05-2023 16:29
  
  Both parties emphasise ‘getting on the ladder’ to win middle-class votes, ignoring the vast majority of people affected by this emergencyBritain is obsessed with home ownership. This might date back to our history of land ownership, class and colonial exploit but the fixation lives on, thanks in no small part to Thatcher’s introduction of the right to buy in 1980.This weekend, both parties made their bids to reckon with the housing crisis, and both leaders, predictably, zeroed
  
  Read more

• Ebay won’t refund me over a fraudulent stolen laptop listing

  02-05-2023 15:23
  
  I had paid £175, the seller had disappeared and I co-operated with police but it says it can’t helpAt the end of last year I bought a laptop on eBay that was being sold by a third-party seller. In February the Metropolitan police emailed me to inform me the laptop had been stolen from the NHS. I returned it, as per its instructions, about 10 days later.I called eBay to obtain a refund, assuming fraudulent activity would be covered by its money-back guarantee. The seller had, by this
  
  Read more

• BP’s profits labelled ‘heinous’ as calls grow for tougher windfall tax

  02-05-2023 13:51
  
  Oil and gas company beats analysts’ forecasts, with profits reaching $5bn in first three months of yearLabour calls for firms to pay more tax on £60m-a-day profitsAnalysis: does UK need to drill for more North Sea oil and gas?Bumper profits at BP have been labelled “heinous” and sparked renewed calls for a tougher windfall tax, after the oil and gas giant recorded one of its best ever starts to the year while Britons struggled to pay high energy bills.The energy company s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• UK house prices rise for first time in eight months

  02-05-2023 09:19
  
  Nationwide expert hails ‘tentative signs of a recovery’ as buyers’ confidence improvesBusiness live – latest updatesUK house prices rose by 0.5% in April after seven months of declines, according to Nationwide building society.The modest increase took the average price of a home to £260,441 last month, from £257,122 in March. Compared with April last year, prices were down 2.7%, after a 3.1% annual decline in March. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK supermarkets face calls for ‘profiteering’ investigation as inflation soars

  02-05-2023 07:01
  
  Lib Dem leader calls for watchdog to probe reports of big retailers and food multinationals inflating markupsBritain’s biggest supermarkets are facing calls for the UK’s competition watchdog to investigate claims of profiteering amid the cost of living crisis, as industry figures show food price inflation soared to a record high in April.With the rising cost of a weekly shop adding to pressure on households across the country, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, called on the Comp
  
  Read more

• Welsh government issues new rules to bring down cost of school uniforms

  02-05-2023 07:00
  
  School badges, logos and branded items must not be compulsory amid cost of living crisis, says Labour-led governmentSchools in Wales have been told that they must not make school badges and logos on uniforms compulsory or force parents to buy branded items of clothing, in an attempt to ease the financial burden on families.They must also make sure there are arrangements in place for parents and carers to buy secondhand, and not to stipulate styles so that items can be bought from multiple retail
  
  Read more

• Green investment funds pushing money into fossil fuel firms, research finds

  02-05-2023 07:00
  
  BlackRock and L&G among asset managers using funds with ESG label to invest in coal, oil and gas Investment funds branded as green or socially responsible are being used by some of the world’s largest asset managers to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in fossil fuel companies, according to a report.The research by the Common Wealth thinktank showed that the US fund managers BlackRock and State Street and the UK-based Legal & General were among asset managers to use funds with
  
  Read more

• Can cities help us fight climate change? – podcast

  02-05-2023 06:00
  
  As the planet warms, and intense heatwaves become the norm, our urban environments need a radical rethink to keep them habitable. So what do we want the cities of the future to look like? Madeleine Finlay speaks to author and historian Ben Wilson, Prof Jessica Davies and Prof Diane Jones Allen about how to create cities that are fairer, greener and more self-reliant.Clips: ITV, BBC, WIONRead about the recent City Nature Challenge here Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Cost of living squeeze ‘is holding back’ UK small businesses

  02-05-2023 01:01
  
  FSB says business confidence is rising but soaring costs and weakening demand is still slowing growthSmall businesses across Britain are warning that the cost of living squeeze is holding back economic growth, after two in five company bosses reported a drop in sales at the start of the year.The Federation of Small Businesses said that although business confidence was rising among bosses before the summer, soaring costs and weakness in consumer demand were still weighing on activity. Continue re
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!